Dreamfall creator goes independent, licenses his old games back

Following a tough few months for Funcom's The Secret World, creative director Ragnar Tornquist has revealed his next move -- a new studio, and a new title in his The Longest Journey franchise. The industry veteran co-designed the original 1999 point-and-click game, before designing its follow-up Dreamfall, which released in 2006. This new title, Dreamfall Chapters, will be the first in the series not to be developed at Funcom. Funcom still owns the rights to the franchise, but says that because it is focused on continuing ahead with online games, it has licensed the traditionally single-player IP back to its original creator in a revenue share deal. In the meantime, Tornquist will remain in an advisory role as creative director on MMO The Secret World. Tornquist noted, "I'm very excited to finally have the opportunity to continue the The Longest Journey saga... I'm extremely grateful to Funcom for this unique and exciting opportunity, and I can't wait to dive back into the universe I helped create more than a decade ago."